Take The Heart I Never Wanted to Give

16

<i>"Someone please help!"</i>

Gabriel and Sam stopped abruptly when they heard the loud desperate shout, both shooting each other twin looks of concern.

"Oh no," Sam murmured.

"That was Cas," Gabriel said in a hushed tone, his voice wavering slightly. That meant Dean was the injured one.

Sam must have realized the same thing because his breaths were coming out in panicked short bursts and the pupils of his eyes were shrunk to tiny specks in alertness,

"How far is the cliff?" Sam said calmly despite his appearance.

Gabriel hesitated, not quite sure if Sam was going back to his angered state or if he was trying to keep the former from happening by talking in a very calm voice.

"How far, Gabriel." He said a little less calmly.

Gabriel swallowed nervously, attempting to stem his own fear and anger. "Not far. Two minutes at the most from where we are. Just keep going straight."

Without giving answer, Sam took off in a sprint, leaving Gabriel to run behind him. Both men didn't speak, neither trusting their emotions to say the right thing or to convey the appropriate reactions.

Eventually they reached the cliff; without stopping, they jumped on top of the small ledge that led to the top of the cliff and trudged up the steep incline.

They spotted a horse—no doubt Castiel's—standing just near the edge, tied down to a small bush. Gabriel stopped near the horse, petting the creature cautiously before rummaging through the satchel that was attached to its saddle. He sighed in relief when he found lots of medical tape along with gauze, hydrogen peroxide, and medical stitches. He shouldered the satchel quickly before joining Sam at the edge of the cliff. He looked down the height of the cliff, realizing it wasn't a short drop to the ground. Jumping would result in both of them breaking or puncturing something vital.

"Dammit!" Gabriel hissed.

"We can still get down there." Sam said, pointing at something a ways away from them. Gabriel followed his finger and spotted a thick vine that hung from a oak tree branch. Gabriel noticed that the branch was just barely attached to tree and looked ready to plummet to the ground.

"That's a risky jump, Sam. That thing isn't going to hold if we hang on it too long." Gabriel warned.

"Then we climb down quickly." Sam countered. He stared at the vine briefly before backing up a good distance from the edge.

"We make a run for it here. You'll have to go first since you weigh less and the branch probably won't give as much under your weight."

Gabriel nodded, making his way over to Sam and crouched down so he could stretch his limbs and loosen his muscles. Before he took off, Sam grabbed his hand squeezing it tightly and placing a chaste kiss on the tips of his fingers,

"Be careful." Sam murmured.

Gabriel leaned forward and placed a kiss on Sam's forehead, squeezing his hand back, "You too."

Gabriel let go of Sam's hand and turned his attention back to the vine. He inhaled and exhaled steadily to calm the tiny spark of nervousness the settled in his stomach. He pushed off from the ground, sprinting to the edge and jumping just as his toes reached the edge. His hands grabbed for the vine, his palms scraping roughly against it as he tried to find some purchase on the vine. When he got a hold of the vine with his hands, he wrapped his legs around and slid down as quickly as he could. The branch held his weight surprisingly well despite how dangerously close it was to breaking. Gabriel hopped off the vine three-fourths of the way down and landed carefully on the ground. He hissed slightly, his palms were red and had a few scratches but he was otherwise unharmed.